Does your 2007 marketing plan take into account that 25-40 year old women are the fastest growing wealth demographic? Did you know baby boomer females are the nation’s biggest spenders and more than 70 per cent of women will research a major purchase online before shopping?

For three years now, Amanda Stevens’ Splash Marketing Group has been educating businesses about the power of marketing to women. Splash believe “most marketing and advertising campaigns fail to recognise men and women are very different when it comes to processing information, in particular, marketing messages.”

Amanda is widely acknowledged as one of Australia’s foremost experts on marketing to women and was happy to share her advice on why your business should know more about the science of marketing to women.

Do many organisations 'miss a beat' when it comes to marketing to women?

Yes and we are discovering from speaking to women in research groups that most organisations develop their marketing plans and fail to recognise that men and women are different, especially when they’re responding and processing a company’s marketing messages.

What is it that makes Splash Consulting unique?

Splash specialises in SheMarketing, the Science of Marketing to Women. We work with brands that either predominantly market to women or those businesses with an opportunity to gain a greater share of the female market.

What's your top tip for marketing to women?

Men and women’s brains are wired differently and this affects responses to marketing messages. Women make purchase decisions on a more emotive level and will generally take longer to make purchasing decisions. They also make purchasing decisions on a more complex range of purchasing criteria.

Are women hard to reach?

Women are becoming increasingly difficult to reach. Today's female is increasingly busy, complex and time poor. Media choices are also becoming increasingly fragmented. Combined with the fact that many industries are becoming more competitive and crowded, reaching today's female consumer requires a carefully planned, creative and often highly innovative approach.

In that case, what are the significant differences of marketing to men and women?

Marketing to women doesn't necessarily mean that you're not marketing to men. It's not an either/or proposition.  Men and women do process messages differently but many businesses would benefit from shifting their focus from men to women simply because women are the faster growing wealth demographic and decision makers.

What are some things for businesses to consider when writing key messages for a marketing campaign, targeted at women?

Women are able to process more complex language structure and will generally respond to images that are more emotive and human. For example, when marketing a car, men will be engaged with a picture of a car whereas women will be more likely to respond to a picture of a car with people in it.

What are the three key gender differences? 

1. Women have around 30 per cent more connections between the left and right hemispheres and as a result are able to process multiple aspects of information. This is one of the reasons women are generally better at multi-tasking.
2. The language centre of the brain is larger in the female brain and as a result men and women use language differently and to varying degrees. Women use, on average, 10,000 to12,000 more words every day.
3. The emotive centre of the brain is also proportionally larger in the female brain, which means women will make purchasing decisions on a more emotive level.

What is the SheMarketing methodology? 

It’s a simple, proven ten-step system designed to acquire, retain and maximise a loyal female customer base. It is a complete model that can be adapted and applied to any industry and marketing plan.

How can we learn from other Australian brands that effectively market to women? 

Campaigns such as the new Special K 'Remember You' campaign speaks to women in a unique, emotive way and communicates an insightful and intimate understanding of what the lives of modern Australian women are really all about. Look at the colours they use in their advertising, their messaging and where the ads are positioned. This will give you an idea of what Special K are trying to achieve.

What does Splash do that its competitors don't?

We have a unique methodology based on a fusion of gender neuro-science, social trend research and a practical step by step approach to marketing.